Glossary

Title Insurance Glossary

Browse this glossary to get to know the meaning of basic terms and phrases commonly used in real estate transactions (and throughout the Meridian Title website).

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  • Appurtenant: Pertinent or belonging to
  • AIR: Adjustable interest rate
  • Amount Financed: The loan amount available after upfront charges are paid
  • AP: Adjustable payment
  • APR: Annual percentage rate, or cost of a borrower’s loan
  • Application: The submission of a consumer’s financial info (name, income, SSN of the consumer), the consumer’s address (as well as the estimated value of their property), and amount of mortgage loan sought for the purposes of obtaining an extension of credit
  • Assignee: The person to whom property is legally transferred
  • Business Day: For a loan estimate, “business day” refers to when the creditor’s offices are open for normal business functions; for a closing disclosure, “business day” means all calendar days except Sundays and legal public holidays
  • Closing: The final step in executing the property buying transition; the process allows the transfer of ownership to occur
  • Closing Disclosure: A document listing all the costs of a transaction; it replaces the TILA disclosure and the HUD-1 Settlement Statement
  • Commission: A fee paid by to a real estate agent for selling property 
  • CFPB: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Closing Date: The date of consummation for the closing disclosure.
  • CD: A CD, or closing disclosure, is a form that provides final details about the mortgage loan the consumer selected.
  • CPL: A CPL, or closing protection letter, is a document from a title company given to a lender for one or more closings that insures the lender for loss.
  • Consumer: The borrower or buyer
  • Consummation: Different from closing or settlement, consumption occurs when the consumer signs loan papers from the mortgage lender and becomes contractually obligated for the loan under state law; consummation is not the same thing as closing or settlement.
  • Date Issued: The date the disclosures (loan estimate and closing disclosure) are delivered to the consumer.
  • Disbursement Date: The date when the amounts are to be disbursed to a consumer and seller in a purchase transaction or the date funds are to be paid to the consumer or a third party in a transaction that is not a purchase transaction.
  • Encumbrance: A claim against, liability, or restriction against a property (e.g., a lien or easement) that obstructs its transfer or use.
  • Finance Charge: The dollar amount the loan will cost the consumer.
  • GFE: Good Faith Estimate
  • Interest: a fee you pay for borrowing money.
  • IMD: Integrated Mortgage Disclosure (new forms: LE and CD) is the new rule and forms that apply to most closed-end consumer mortgage loans; it does not apply to home equity lines of credit, reverse mortgages, mortgage loans secured by a mobile home or by a dwelling that is not attached to a real property; or those loans made by a creditor who makes less than five mortgages annually.
  • Issue Date on Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure: The date when you deliver or place in the mail the applicable disclosure.
  • Lender’s Title Policy: A lender’s title policy is a title insurance policy that protects the lender against potential problems with the title to a consumer’s property.
  • Joint Tenancy with Full Rights of Survivorship: An undivided interest in real estate property, taken by two or more joint tenants; the interests must be equal, occurring under the same conveyance, and beginning at the same time; upon the death of a joint tenant, the interest passes to the surviving joint tenant(s), rather than to the heirs of the deceased joint tenant.
  • Lien: A lender’s claim against a property used security for a debt that isn’t taken care of yet.
  • LE: A loan estimate is a form designed to provide disclosures that will be helpful to a consumer for understanding the key features, costs, and risks of the mortgage loan they are applying for; the initial disclosure is given to the consumer three business days after application and replaces the GFE and early TIL.
  • Mortgage: A mortgage, or deed of trust, is a loan in which property is used as collateral for repaying a loan.
  • MIC: Mortgage Insurance Case Number
  • NMLSR ID: Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry Identification Number.
  • New Rule: The TILA-RESPA Rule consolidates four existing disclosures required under TILA and RESPA for closed-end credit transactions secured by real property into two forms: a LE that must be delivered or placed in the mail no later than the third business day after receiving the consumer’s application, and a CD must be provided to the consumer at least three business days prior to consummation.
  • Owner’s Title Policy: An owner’s title policy is a title insurance policy that insures the consumer against potential problems with the title for their property.
  • Recording: The filing of documents with the appropriate government agent affecting real property as a matter of public record, giving notice to future purchasers, creditors, purchasers, or other interested parties.
  • RESPA: Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
  • Tenancy By the Entirety (or a married couple): A form of ownership exclusively reserved for a married couple; as tenants by the entirety, a married couple owns all interest in the real estate and this tenancy can only be terminated by the death of one of the tenants, the dissolution of the marriage of the tenants or conveyance of the interest in the property; in the event of:
  1. the death of one of the spouses, the survivor owns the property
  2. the dissolution of the marriage, the former spouses hold the property as tenants in common (unless the judgment of divorce provided otherwise)
  • Tenancy in Common: An undivided ownership in real property by two or more persons; the interest need not be equal, and, in the event of the death of one (or more) of the owners (co-tenants), no right of survivorship in the other owners exist and the interest of deceased co-tenants passes to his or her heirs.
  • Title: A document that shows the legal ownership rights for a property.
  • Title Insurance: Title insurance protects consumers and lenders against damage or loss; there are two different types of title insurance: the owner’s title policy (purchased by the homebuyer to protect property rights) and the lender’s title policy (almost always required by the lender to protect the lender’s interest).
  • Title Insurance Agency: Meridian Title is an independent title insurance agency. As a title insurance agency, we handle the sale of properties and issue title insurance policies on behalf of one of our underwriters. Our role is similar to a person who sells life insurance for a variety of companies. Meridian Title can write a title insurance policy on any one of its underwriters, such as:
  1. American Digital Title Insurance Company
  2. Chicago Title
  3. Commonwealth Land Title
  4. Fidelity National
  5. First American
  6. Old Republic
  • Title Professional: A title insurance professional examines or researches public records to see if there are any problems or defects that may cause a buyer legal issues; they also ensure a title search is completed, write the title insurance policy, manage the closing process, and work to reduce the buyer’s risk of ownership issues.
  • Title Search: A title search is an early step in the property buying process done to uncover issues that could limit a buyer’s rights to the property; a title search involves examining court decisions, deeds, public land records, and other relevant legal documents by a title company to figure out the terms and conditions for issuing a title policy; if an issue is discovered, most often your title professional will take care of it without you even knowing; the title search protects the buyer from inheriting a previous owner’s debts, legal obligations, or other title problems.
  • TIL: Truth in Lending
  • TILA: Truth in Lending Act
  • TIP: Total interest paid, or the total amount the consumer will pay over the loan term as a percentage of the loan amount.
  • Total Payments: Total amount paid after payment of all principal, interest, mortgage insurance, and loan costs as scheduled.
  • TRID: TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures
  • Underwriter: An underwriter is a professional authorizes and issues authority for its agents to write title insurance policies. Meridian Title can write a policy on any one of its underwriters, which includes Arsenal Insurance Corporation, First American, Fidelity National, Old Republic, Chicago Title, and Commonwealth Land Title. Meridian Title has contracts with each of its underwriters, and each contract spells out certain duties and responsibilities that Meridian Title, as the title insurance agency, must follow.
  • UCD: Uniform closing dataset used to support the CFPB’s closing disclosures.
  • Variance Previously and also known as tolerances.
  • Written List of Providers: A written list of service providers given to the consumer by the creditor or mortgage broker for a settlement service provider that the consumer is permitted to shop for.
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